Swedish parliamentary election: Social Democrats ahead, but close race with conservatives
Quick Look
- In the Swedish parliamentary election, according to SVT projections, the Social Democrats under former Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson are ahead with 27.6 percent, followed by Ulf Kristersson's conservative party with 20 percent.
- The camp around Andersson has 49.1 percent, the previous government camp around Kristersson and the right-wing populists has 49.3 percent.
- Migration and gang crime were central election campaign topics.
AI-generated summary
Why It Matters
The election determines the composition of the 349-seat Swedish Riksdag. The Social Democrats under Andersson and the camp around Kristersson as well as the right-wing populists were almost on a par in the projections.
In Sweden, former Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson's Social Democrats are ahead in the parliamentary elections, according to projections by broadcaster SVT. In the evening, however, the expected close race emerged between the center-left camp around Andersson and the camp around the conservative head of government Ulf Kristersson.
Andersson's party received 27.6 percent of the vote. In the projection, a combination of post-election polls and initial results, Kristersson trails the Conservative Party with 20 percent of the vote.
The right-wing populist Sweden Democrats estimate 17.5 percent and would therefore record losses compared to the 2022 election (20.54 percent). The right-wing populists had tolerated the minority government of Moderates, Christian Democrats and Liberals in Sweden for the past four years. Kristersson had announced that he would bring her into his cabinet if he won the election.
Close race between both camps
It remains to be seen which political camp will ultimately be able to claim a majority of the 349 seats in the Swedish Riksdag. According to the projection, the parties that support Andersson as Prime Minister - in addition to the Social Democrats, the Left, the Greens and the liberal Center Party - are at 49.1 percent.
Kristersson's previous coalition of three parties and the right-wing populists together came to 49.3 percent. In the forecast from 8 p.m., the opposition parties were still clearly ahead.
Migration and gang crime as an election campaign issue
Around eight million Swedes were asked to vote. Long before the election, the opposition was well ahead in polls. Shortly before the deadline, however, a closer race for power emerged than expected. The election campaign focused, among other things, on the country's challenges in dealing with migration, gang crime and a tightening of criminal law - but also on the question of whether the right-wing populists in Sweden could become part of a government for the first time.
With information from Jana Sinram, ARD Studio Stockholm
What to Watch
AI outlook — possibilities, not facts
The formation of a government will take several days or weeks due to the close results.
Likely · Within days
Open Questions
- Which camp will ultimately achieve a majority in the Reichstag?
- Will the Sweden Democrats become part of a government?
- Given the close result, how will the formation of a government go?
